Friday, 19 December 2014

Nottingham-based Focus
Consultants has been working with the Vulcan to the Sky Trust to undertake an
options appraisal to identify the best possible future for the iconic aircraft
Avro Vulcan XH558, The Spirit of Great Britain.

The Vulcan was flown by the
RAF for 33 years between 1960 and 1993. She was built to deliver Britain’s
first atomic bomb, ‘Blue Danube’, as a deterrent against Soviet aggression
during the Cold War. Through fundraising and restoration work, widely believed
to be the most complex technical heritage project ever undertaken, she was
returned to flight in 2007 and has since performed in numerous air shows across
the UK and Europe.

However, for a range of
technical reasons, the aircraft is coming towards the end of its flying life.
The Vulcan to the Sky Trust, which owns and operates the aircraft, is keen that
there will be continuing public benefits once she has stopped flying in the
form of education and inspirational activities around the aircraft aimed at
helping to solve the shortage of engineers and technical staff that is
currently a significant challenge for British businesses.

In recognition of this, the
Vulcan to the Sky Trust has been awarded £10,000 funding from the Heritage
Lottery Fund’s Start Up Programme to identify the most effective future role
for the best conserved large British aircraft of her era after she is grounded.

For the last three months,
Focus has been working with the Trust to examine a range of options which will
allow the Vulcan to maintain the value endowed upon it by the public and enable
her to continue to deliver substantial public benefit.

Dr Robert Pleming, chief
executive of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust said: “We are thrilled the Heritage
Lottery Fund has recognised the potential of Vulcan XH558 to bring value to our
economy and pleasure to the public even when she is no longer flying. We have been working with Focus to look at
how XH558 can continue inspiring young people with the excitement of
engineering and innovation, helping to solve the UK’s technical skills
shortage.”

Associate at Focus, Heather
Frecklington, said: “The Vulcan has incredible significance, as a powerful reminder
of the knife-edge tension of the Cold War, an innovative engineering triumph
and a symbol that continues to pull on the heart strings of the British public.
It is essential that her revered position is maintained once she has been
permanently grounded and is not lost for future generations. At Focus we are proud to be working with the
Trust to identify an option that not only ensures her survival in outstanding
condition, but also ensures she continues to inspire and benefit the public who
have shown boundless support for her hitherto.”

The Vulcan is currently based
at Robin Hood Airport, Doncaster.

Focus, which is celebrating
its 20th anniversary during 2014, offers a range of services in the
heritage and development sector, including funding and economic development,
regeneration expertise, energy consultancy and chartered surveying services.

Since its creation in 1994,
Focus has secured more than £925 million of grant assistance and delivered more
than £1 billion of projects and programmes - making it one of the most
successful businesses of its kind in the country.

It has worked on a range of
high-profile projects in the arts, heritage and tourism sector, including some
of the major museums across the UK, and important historical and ecclesiastical
sites.

As well as its head office at
Phoenix Business Park in Nottingham, it also has branches in London, Leicester,
and Boston and Aubourn in Lincolnshire.

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Nottingham-based contractor J Tomlinson was in the driving
seat of a delicate relocation operation to move the world’s fastest car Thrust
SSC into its new home as part of a development project at Coventry Transport
Museum.

Thrust SSC is being given pride of place in an all-new
‘Biffa Award Land Speed Record Gallery’, which is set to open in early 2015.

As part of the daring relocation manoeuvre, the 54ft long,
10-tonne supersonic car was hoisted over the rear gates of the museum, before
being transported to a low-loader lorry and driven at walking pace around the
outskirts of the building. The vehicle, which measures almost the same length
as two double-decker buses laid end-to-end, was then once again lifted in the
air on a crane and placed into position just outside the new gallery, at the
front of the museum, before being manoeuvred into the brand new exhibition
space. Thrust SSC’s predecessor Thrust 2 had been moved in the same way just
minutes before.

J Tomlinson is the contractor for part of the £8.5 million
redevelopment of Coventry Transport Museum, which got underway in April this
year and is due to be completed by Summer 2015, when 12 of the museum’s 14
galleries will have been transformed, giving visitors a fresh perspective on
Coventry’s fascinating transport history.

Martin Gallagher, construction managing director at J
Tomlinson, the company tasked with managing the base build works and moving the
Thrust vehicles, said: “Transferring these two very special cars into their new
home was not only a unique operation for J Tomlinson, it also marked a key
point in the extension and refurbishment of Coventry Transport Museum.

“Thrust 2 and Thrust SSC are the two fastest cars in the
world, and we are very pleased to have been part of the team that has created a
new, prominent gallery for them so that they can be displayed in all their
glory. We will now begin work on the area that these cars previously occupied,
as J Tomlinson continues the development of the home of this internationally
significant transport collection.”

Gary Hall, chief executive at Culture Coventry, the trust
which runs Coventry Transport Museum, said: “This was a fantastic moment for everyone
involved. Thrust SSC has lived permanently at Coventry Transport Museum since
it was acquired in 2001, four years after it smashed the World Land Speed
Record in the Black Rock Desert – and this was the first time it had moved
since its arrival.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be giving both Thrust SSC and
Thrust 2 a new home in their own specially designed Biffa Award Land Speed
Record Gallery, where they will be joined by an all-new 4D Land Speed Record
simulator – the whole thing is set to be a real ‘WOW’ for visitors old and
new.”

The relocation manoeuvre was managed by Leicester-based MFH
Construction Projects, and the moves were undertaken by Collett & Sons Ltd,
a Halifax-based company specialising in transport, heavy lift, marine services
and transport consulting.

Visitors will be able to see Thrust SSC and Thrust 2 in
their new Land Speed Record Gallery from February 2015 onwards. The new gallery
has been supported by Biffa Award, a multi-million pound environment fund
managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT), which utilises landfill
tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services.

The Transport Museum redevelopment is also funded by the
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and
Garfield Weston Foundation.

Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Staff at Croots Farm Shop will be raising money for Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre during the festive season by raffling off a large chocolate snowman.The farm shop near Duffield has supported the charity, which helps disadvantaged youngsters, for a number of years.As part of the Christmas festivities at Croots, Santa is due to visit the shop on Saturday 13th December between 9am and 1pm and again on Saturday 20th December between 10am and 2pm. On both occasions he will be walking around the farm shop and will be available for photographs, free of charge.“Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre was established in 1891 to provide disadvantaged Derbyshire children with holidays in Skegness, and our customers have been very generous in the past with their support,” said Steve Croot, owner of the farm shop, which is based at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road.Croots Farm Shop is open daily from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm). Croots runs Fresh Fish Thursdays between 9am and 1pm on Thursdays.For more information visit www.croots.co.ukor follow Croots Farm Shop on Twitter @crootsfarm_shop.Press release issued by Nottingham Based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk.

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